Wire pull for bottle caps



April 1932- F. O'NEILL,- JR 1,855,411

' WIRE PULL FOR BOTTLE CAPS Filed Aug. 15, 1930 INVENTOR [gun/r O'Neil/1K GQ-CMMA C K ATTORN EY Patented Apr. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK ONEILL, JR., OF NETV YORK, N. Y., ASSIG-NOR TO THE FARGO C ORPORATIONQ OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK WIRE PULL FOR BOTTLE CAPS Application filed August 15,1930. Serial No. 475,422.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application, Serial No. 266,- 764, the invention disclosed herein comprehending the subject-matter of that application together with certain other novel features. The inventionrelates to wire pulls for bottle caps such as the discs of flexiblemate rial usually made of heavy paper for use with milk bottles.

Heretofore, Various devices of this character have been proposed, all of them, so far as I am aware, embodying handle portions normally along the upper side of the cap, portions bent at rightangles to said portions and extending through the cap, and straight portions along the under side of the cap, and consequently at right angles to the portions extending through the cap. To lift the cap the handle portions of such wires have to be swung to a position more or less perpendicular to the plane of the cap. Moreover, the wire, as is understood in the art, must be embedded in the material of the cap, and not protrude above the surfaces thereof, so that the caps can be handled in large stacks by the machines customarily used for inserting them in bottles. When the wire is thus embedded in the cap, the latter isreduced in thickness, an amount about equal to the diameter of the wire, at the very places where the wire engages it,'and, consequently,

a pull on the wire is apt to and frequently does tear it out through the weakened portions of the paper, thus destroying the use- 3 fulness of the cap. This structural weakness is aggravated by the need for a wire of rather large diameter to avoid breakage at the points where it is sharply bent. Even a rather large wire may be broken upon lift- 40 ing the handle portion from the surface of the cap because bending of the wire incident thereto occurs at the same places at which the wire was bent when inserted in the cap. Moreover, the insertion of such wires in caps involves a number of steps and requires elaborate machinery. Of course, undue thickness of caps and large sizes of wire are undesirable not only because of cost but also on account of manufacturing difiiculties.

The principal object of the present invention resides, therefore, in the provision of a wire pull device which is simple to form in connection with the cap and which avoids the aforesaid disadvantages.

I have found that this object may be achieved by so forming a wire, having a han dle portion at the upper side of the cap and portions to engage the under side of the cap, that the latter are transposed from the positions in which they lie when embedded in the cap to positions where they may engage unbroken surfaces of the cap when the handle portion is lifted from the surface of the cap. This may be accomplished by making the wire in such a way that the portions which pass through the cap are aligned with adjacent portions above and below the same, instead of at sharp angles to one another, forming the cap engaging portions below the ca as curved, U-shaped, or the like, and flattening the wire into the cap so that the handle portion and the portions below the cap lie on opposite sides of a. line joining the points where the wire passes through the cap. Preferably, the wire should again extend through the cap (from bottom to top) and have portions above the cap, the ends of which are adapted to engage the cap, as will be more fully described hereafter. That is, the device is constructed so as to swing as a unit with respect to the cap upon the lifting of the handle portion,whereby sharp bending of the wire itself is avoided. Moreover, the portions below the cap are preferably curved to allow foralengtheningofthehandle portion when it is pulled upward. A larger handle, upon such an upward pull on the wire, is thus obtainable without increasing its size as initially embedded in the cap. 7

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be-in part apparent and in. part pointed out in connection with the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a plan view of the top of a milk bottle cap having a wire pull in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lower face of the cap shown in Fig. 1. Fig. ,3 is a view of the top of the cap when the handle portion of the Wire has been lifted to a position perpendicular to the plane of the cap. Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the wire in the position in which it is in Fig. 3. Fig. is an elevation similar to that of Fig. 4 but illustrating the lengthened handle portion of the wire. Fig. 6 is an elevation looking in a direction at right angles to the view in Fig. 4.

v Fig. 7 is a section taken on the lines 77 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of'the arrows. Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 looking in the direction of the arrows.

There is shown at 1 a bottle cap, such as is generally used in connection with milk bottles. This maybe made of any suitable material such as cardboard or heavy paper, which is preferably somewhat flexible. In engagement with the cap is a wire pull 2 having a handle portion 3which is generally U- shaped, cap-engaging portions 4 underneath the cap, and cap-engaging portions 5 above the cap. These cap-engaging portions are preferably shaped as smooth curves. The wire may be originally inserted in the cap by bending it into U-shape, passing the ends of the U through the cap at right angles thereto, and causing them totravel against smooth curved surfaces underneath the cap until they again meet the cap, and pass through it, being similarly curved above the cap. lVhen the 7 wire has been thus .formed in connection with the cap it simply remains to press the portions of the wire above and below the cap into the material thereof. This may be accomplished by simultaneously applying pressure above and below the surface of the cap, the portions above the cap preferably lying towards its center and the portions below it towards its outside. That is, the respective portions, when embedded in the cap extend on opposite sides of a line connecting points where the wire passes through the cap.

As explained above, it is essential that the wire initially lie wholly within the material of the cap, as shown in Fig. 8, so that in order to facilitate the lifting of the handle portion from the surface of the cap, it is preferable to provide a depression 6 as is customary in the art.

- It will be appreciated that when the handle portion 3 of a wire in accordance withmy invention is lifted from the surface of the cap it is swung to a position about at right angles to its initial position, and-simultaneously the portions 4 and 5 are similarly swung, or in 1 a sense the wire as a whole is rotated 90 about the points where it passes through the cap. Thus the portions 4 take the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3and are in a position to engage the surface of the cap at points where its thickness has not been reduced by the embedment of wire therein. Moreover, there is no sharp bending of the wire incident to the rotating of the handle portions, since the wire swings as a unit.

Whenever an especially strong pull is on the handle portion after it has been raised over the cap, the cap-engaging portions underneath the cap are shortened and the handle portion is lengthened at the expense of the former. It may be that in some cases the wire is more or less flattened against the bottom of the cap, depending on the force applied to the handle portion. At the same time the effect of the pull is such that the ends of the curved portions above the cap come against the cap and aid in preventing the wire from being pulled outof the paper. These features are illustrated by the comparison between Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. 7

Although the portions 4 and 5 are shown in the particular forms illustrated on account of limitations on the size of the cap, it will. be appreciated that the wire could be so formed that the points 10 (where the wire passes from top to bottom) and the points 11 (where it passes from bottom to top) and the ends of the wire 7 are all located in a straight line parallel to the end of the U-shaped handle portion, or in any other desired formation with respect to the edge of the cap, so long as these portions are adapted to be trans posed with respect to their original position when the handle portion is lifted from the cap.

Although I prefer to use curved cap-engaging portions at the under side of the cap, it is to be understood that swinging of the wire as a unit and transposition of said portions may be effected even though the latter are formed similar to the handle portion shown, and not curved, provided the portions above and below are flattened on opposite sides of a line joining successive points where the wire passes through the cap, though in such cases the handle portion is not so readily enlarged at the expense of said portions. In other words, if a line be drawn joining points 11-10-10-11, in order, whether the line be broken, according to the embodiment illus trated, or straight, following the paragraph next preceding, the portions at the upper side of the cap and those at the under side initially lie on opposite sides of the line.

Where I use the expression initially em bedded, I mean that the wire is depressed into the material of the cap so that it is practically finish with the surface of the cap when inserted in the bottle, or at any time previous to the lifting of the handle from the surface 73 of the cap. I do not mean that the wire is completely surrounded by the material of the cap.

WVhile I have described a specific embodiment of my invention in detail, I do not wish portion at the upper side of the cap and embedded therein and a cap engaging portion at the under side of the cap and embedded therein and adapted to be transposed from its embedded position to a position Where it may engage with an unbroken portion of the cap surface by the lifting of the handle portion.

2. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire having a handle portion at the upper side of the cap and a curved cap engaging portion at the under side of the cap and embedded therein and adapted to be transposed from its embedded position to a position where it may engage with an unbroken portion of the cap surface by the lifting of the handle portion.

3. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire having a handle portion above the cap and initially embedded therein, U-shaped portions below the cap, and cap engaging portions above the cap, said wire being adapted to swing as a unit upon the lifting of the handle from the surface of the cap to move the U-shaped portions from their embedded positions to positions where they may engage with unbroken portions of the cap surface.

4:. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire having a handle portion at the upper side of the cap, portions passing through the cap, and curved cap engaging portions at the under side of the cap, said wire'being initially embedded in the cap so that the handle portion and cap engaging portions, respectively, lie on opposite sides of a line oining the points where the wire passes through the cap, whereby the latter portions may be transposed upon the liftin of the handle portion.

5. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire having a handle portion at the upper side of the cap, portions passing through the cap, and Ushaped cap engaging portions at the under side of the cap, said wire being initially embedded in the cap so that the handle portion and cap engaging portions, respectively, lie on opp0- site sides of a line joining the points where the wire passes through the cap, whereby the latter portions may be transposed upon the lifting of the handle portion.

6. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire pull initially embedded in the cap and including a handle portion, portions aligned therewith and passing through the cap, cap engaging portions at the under side of the cap adapted to be transposed from their embedded position to a position where they may engage unbroken portions of the cap by the lifting of the handle, portions passing through the cap from bottom to top, and cap engaging portions at the upper side of the cap.

7. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire initially embedded therein and having a handle portion at the upper side of the cap, portions passing through the cap, cap engaging portions at the under side of the cap adapted to be transposed, upon the lifting of the handle from the surface of the cap, from the positions in which they lie when embedded in the cap to positions where they may engage unbroken surfaces of the cap, portions passing through the cap from bottom to top, and cap engaging portions above the cap.

8. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire including a U- shaped handle portion at the upper side of the cap, adjacent portions passing through the cap from top to bottom, curved portions at the under side of the cap, portions pass ing through from bottom to top and cap engaging portions at the upper side of the cap, said wire being initially embedded in the cap with the handle portion and the portions at the under side of the cap, respectively, at opposite sides of a line oining the points where the wire passes through the cap.

9. In combination with a bottle cap of yieldable material, a wire including a U- shaped handle portion at the upper side of the cap, adjacent portions passing through the cap from top to bottom, U-shaped portions at the under side of the cap, portions passing through from bottom to top, and cap engaging portions at the upper side of the cap, said wire being initially embedded in the cap with the handle portion and the portions at the under side of the cap, respectively, at opposite sides of a line joining the points where the wire passes through the cap.

10. A wire pull for bottle caps of yieldable material comprising two loops located at the under side of the cap, the four legs of the loops passing upwardly through the cap and being arranged across one end of the cap the two middle legs being joined above the cap as a U-shaped handle, said loops and handle being initially embedded respectively in the under and upper surfaces of the cap, and lying in opposite directions, so that when the handle is lifted to a position substantially at right angles to the upper surface of the capthe loops are swung from their embedded position to positions substantially at right angles to the under surface of the cap and engage with the unbroken portions of the cap surface between the two outer pairs of holes formed by the loop legs when the handle is pulled in a direction outwardly from the cap.

FRANK ONEILL, JR. 

